'Giant bear hug maneuver' puts an end to Peoria home invasion

PEORIA — A South Peoria fight and home invasion might have started over a Link card dispute and ended with a bear hug.

A Peoria police report stated that a home invasion was reported at 6:45 p.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of West Millman Street where an empty Link card had allegedly been sold for $80.

The female victim was injured when several suspects entered the home and used an iron to damage a television screen before hitting her in the face, causing a laceration, the report said.

A witness was also in the home at the time of the incident. He told police he heard a commotion from his bedroom and emerged to see four females beating the victim, who lay on the floor. The witness told police that he removed the suspects from the living room using a “giant bear hug maneuver” to remove all four women from the house at once.